A newel post used in building construction is generally an exterior or interior vertical post mounted at the head or foot of a flight of stairs. A newel post may also be the end or anchor post for a handrail which extends around the periphery of an exterior or interior porch or landing. The newel post serves to support a handrail around the periphery of the stairs, porch, or landing. In view of the important structural and safety considerations for such applications, fastening hardware used to anchor a newel post to a floor must be structurally strong and reliable. Currently in the industry the usual means of attaching or anchoring of a newel post to a floor is by means of metal brackets or plates. These brackets are usually visible and unsightly after joining the newel post to the floor and require extra millwork to be added after installation for concealment. The brackets are designed primarily for interior applications for use with wooden floors and do not take into account the special requirements of exterior installations such as concrete floors, corrosion resistance, and rot resistance.
There are a number of prior art devices which are described for fastening newel posts to floor or floor surfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,864 by Eldeen dated Jan. 11, 1983, U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,549 by Roberts et. al. dated Aug. 8, 1989 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,538 by Nicholas et al. dated May 30, 1995 describe devices which can be used to attach newel posts to floor and floor surfaces.
The Eldeen device describes a newel post assembly which is to be used in conjunction with wood floors and provides a bracket for attaching a newel post to a wooden floor. This bracket is intended to be used in interior applications in conjunction with wooden floors. The bracket base is visible after installation and needs to be concealed to hide the installation hardware. This device is not designed for exterior applications or applications where concrete floors are present.
The newel post fastening system as described by Nicholas et al. is a very complex fastening system which requires extensive boring in both the floor surface and into the base of the newel post. This bracket is also intended to be used in interior applications in conjunction with wooden floors.
The newel post fastener and rail attachment device described by Roberts et al. is a relatively simple newel post attaching system which again is to be used in conjunction with newel posts and wooden floor and floor surfaces. This device does remain concealed once installed under the newel post, however it appears to provide very little structural integrity and strength to bending forces applied to newel posts once installed. This device is not designed for exterior applications or applications where concrete floors are present.
None of the above-mentioned prior art devices attempt to provide a solution for attaching newel posts to floor and floor surfaces which are made of hard material such as concrete. Nor do they address the problem of rotting of wooden bases in exterior applications or corrosion of the installation hardware. Concrete exterior staircases and concrete porches and landings are often used in new home construction and require the placement of newel posts at the base of the staircases and/or around porches or landings. Exterior applications have unique requirements in that the floor surface is usually concrete and the base and newel post is exposed to the elements especially rain and moisture.
Accordingly, there is a need for a newel post anchoring device system which allows the anchoring of newel posts to concrete floors and floor surfaces, which is structurally rigid and safe, provides a rot and corrosion resistant base, is aesthetically pleasant to look at, and easy to install.